Serendipity (S. Black)

FORTY-THREE

Sirius lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke, letting out a deep breath. He didn't like not being with Eva while she was vulnerable. With everything he was, he wanted to protect her, and it was killing him that he couldn't. Because he knew his pacing was getting on everyone's nerves, he sat on the windowsill and stared out as raindrops pelting the glass panes, cracking the window open to let a bit of smoke out and allowing his mind to wander where it wanted.

Over the years, James learned that Sirius could be a bit of a jerk when his anger got the best of him, but he could tell his friend was really trying to keep it together.

"Padfoot, it's going to be okay," Peter said softly from his spot on his bed. "She's going to be okay."

Sirius didn't say anything back, just shifted so that he was facing the window. James and Peter exchanged uncomfortable glances: neither of them knew how to handle the silence. His anger generally took the form of shouting matches and cursing. Not this. Not staring hopelessly at nothing. James thought he looked worse than the night Bellatrix tortured Eva.

"Blimey," James muttered under his breath, "they're back."

To his surprise, Peter stood but Sirius didn't. He remained on the windowsill, watching the rain with a vacant expression. One might have thought he didn't hear the words at all, but James saw his eyes flick up in recognition when he spoke.

An exhausted Remus opened the door a minute later. Silently, he sat on the closest bed to the door, Peter's, and put his face in his hands.

"Moony," James said, his tone reminding him that they were there.

Remus looked up at them. "You idiots really messed up tonight."

"Forget about us for a minute. Did she tell you what happened?" Peter asked, resisting the urge to bite his nails, a nervous habit he'd been trying to shake for years.

Remus sighed, then told them everything Eva told him. Everyone remained silent for a minute or so after he finished.

James cleaned off his glasses with a swipe of his shirt and slid them back onto his face. "We really did mess up tonight."

"Yeah, you did. But I don't really blame you at the same time," Remus said. "She is mad at you lot, mind you."

"But she's okay?" Remus nodded to Peter, and both he and James sagged with relief. "Thank Merlin."

"Do you know what happened to those Slytherins? Yaxley and the rest of them." James growled when he said the name.

Remus nodded, a humorless grin crossing his scarred face. "I checked. Yaxley and Muciber are currently in the hospital wing. Eva got Yaxley with some hybrid jinx, so now his face is covered in boils, and Black hit Mulciber with a pretty strong stunner. He was still out cold when I poked my head in. They're probably going to get detentions. Oh, and Slytherin's back at zero for House points now. I think your brother saw to that, Sirius." Sirius didn't react at the mention of Regulus, although his mind was on his brother just as much as his girlfriend.

Peter laughed in spite of the situation. "The bloke got one thing right, then."

"We need a better way to handle things like this," Sirius said, speaking for the first time in over an hour. Everyone turned to look at him. "We were stupid tonight. What happened tonight shouldn't have happened, but we also can't react the way we did. Now she thinks we don't trust her."

"Mate, I'm sure she doesn't think that," James said bracingly, but Sirius cut over him.

"Yeah, she does. Right?"